Gendarmenmarkt - Theater

(Local Name: Schauspielhaus) The long Gendarmenmarkt square in Berlin, covering an area of 48,000 sq.m/57,400 sq.yd, has as its central feature the Schauspielhaus. It is one of Schinkel's most notable buildings and was built in 1818-21 on the site of the earlier National Theater, burned down in 1817. The reliefs in the pediments and the figures of Muses on the roof are by F. Tieck. The pediment of the auditorium is by C. D. Rauch. Goethe's "Iphigenie" was performed at its opening in 1821. In 1848 the Prussian National Assembly met in the Schauspielhaus.

Having been rebuilt in a manner very faithful to the original, the building was reopened in the autumn of 1984 as a concert hall. The Neo-classical Great Hall seats 1,200 people and boasts an organ with 5,801 pipes and 74 stops; the chamber-music salon has room for 350 to 450. There is also a rehearsal room and a music club. In 1986 West Berlin presented the Schiller Memorial to East Germany. After three years' restoration work it was returned in 1989 to its original position in front of the steps leading up to the former Schauspielhaus, from where it had been removed by the Nazis in 1938. The four female figures on the fountain canopy represent Lyric Poetry (with a harp), Drama (with a dagger), History (with tablets with the names of Goethe, Beethoven, Michelangelo and others) and Philosophy (parchment scroll inscribed "Discover Yourself").